Waseem shines as four Pakistanis make quarters

KARACHI: Pakistan’s four boxers, including the most promising, Muhammad Waseem, Mohib Bacha, Abid Ali and Adnan Hussain won their respective bouts to make it to the quarter-finals as Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing tournament started here at the KPT Benazir Sports Complex on Saturday.

Quetta-born Muhammad Waseem remained the only Pakistani boxer on Saturday who played in domineering way to oust his Sri Lankan rival Thrindu Dhashilath 9-0 in the flyweight category.

Nineteen-year old Waseem, who remained the most successful boxer for the country last year with two bronze medals at international level, played in aggressive manner and was leading 4-0 in the first round.

However, in the second round he played cautiously to shield himself from a possible blow but was able to add three more points to his total. He got two more points in the third round to finish with a 9-0 victory.

“It was an easy win for me. After taking control of the situation in the first round, Cuban coach Francisco Roldan told me to play with ease and try to avert any possible injury. I have started this year with a victory which is a great thing and I would love to win gold for the country in this event,” Waseem told ‘The News’ after the fight.

Meanwhile, in the light flyweight, Mohib Bacha, who is representing Pakistan Whites, faced no resistance against G Dugarkhuu from Mongolia to advance into quarter-finals.

In the featherweight Abid Ali, representing Pakistan Greens, outgunned Khujabekov Shokhrukh from Uzbekistan. Abid played valiantly and kept his opponent under pressure right from the first round.

Abid made good use of his footwork and his rallies were unstoppable for his Uzbek rival. Abid, who has also the experience of playing in the Olympic Qualifiers, at the end got the fight 9-4.

In the lightweight, Adnan Hussain defeated Miklos Varga from Hungary 9-6.

However, Ali Muhammad lost his bantamweight battle against M Faseeh Al Mousa of Syria 2-3 while Arshad Hussain conceded his light welterweight fight to B Tuvshinbat from Mongolia 3-8.

Three Pakistani boxers including Nadir Khan (51kg), Abdul Waheed (51kg) and Niamatullah (54kg) got byes in their respective bouts. Syrian boxer Mousa was tired as he had reached with his side on Saturday morning, but in spite of it he put the long, sturdy Ali Muhammad in persistent trouble throughout. Mousa won the bout 3-2.

Similarly, in the featherweight another Syrian Wessam Salamana beat Janos Mihaly from Hungary 10-2.

In other featherweight fight, Ketchemi Justin from Cameroon ousted Mustafa Qasim from Iraq 9-0.

The Indian boxer Sanjay Singh lost to Nazarov Olimjon of Uzbekistan 0-1 in the flyweight category.

In the bantamweights, Yong Dang (China) beat Hussein Aqeel (Iraq) 5-0 while Chin Yuan Kao (Chinese Taipei) edged out Damith Wijerathne 2-1.

Earlier, an opening ceremony was held which was also graced by Federal Minister for Sports Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Pir Aftab Shah Jilani, President of the Pakistan Olympic Association General Arif Hassan, Senator Almas Parveen and Sindh Sports Minister Dr Muhammad Ali Shah.

The march past of the participating nations and cultural dances of the federating units added to the charm of the ceremony. Nadir Khan took an oath on behalf of the boxers while Ghulam Hussain Patni did that on behalf of referees/ judges........LINK